Dawn's Early Light
by SkyraTwilight812
Summary: ONESHOT Redpaw is excited to be out of the nursery, but there seems to be something wrong with her sister, Dawnpaw. Written for my baby chicken. Rest in peace, Chip.


**My five-day old baby chicken, Chip, just died. I don't know what was wrong with her, and the other six chicks are just fine. I felt it was appropriate to give her a warrior name, so I came up with this oneshot. Review if you like it, but this story wasn't written for anyone but me.**

Redpaw raced through the forest excitedly. It was her first day out of the nursery! She felt like she'd been cooped up with her sisters, Shinepaw, Owlpaw, and Dawnpaw forever!

"C'mon, guys!' she yowled, "Hurry up!"

Her mentor, Lilacnight, padded up to her.

"Now, Redpaw," said Lilacnight, "Hunting in the forest isn't about speed. You need to make sure your prey doesn't hear, see, or smell you, and that's the opposite of what you're doing."

"I know, I know!" groaned Redpaw, "I'm just really, really, REALLY excited to get out of the camp!"

A mouse burst out of the undergrowth nearby, quickly followed by Owlpaw. With a yowl of triumph, she pounced on her prey, breaking its spine.

"My first prey!" she said happily.

Soon, Redpaw and Shinepaw had caught some prey too. Dawnpaw, however, seemed to be having trouble. The smallest of the litter, Dawnpaw had always been the slowest and the weakest, but Redpaw didn't think she'd have this much trouble catching any prey at all.

"You okay?" she asked, padding over to her younger sister.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," said Dawnpaw, yawning, "I'm just a little tired. I think I'll just go back to camp and take a nap."

As Dawnpaw went back to camp, tripping over every bramble, Redpaw wondered what was going on. They hadn't been out too long, but Dawnpaw looked positively exhausted.

"I think I'll go back, too," said Redpaw, "Just in case Dawnpaw needs help."

She turned and followed after her sister, helping her back to camp.

One moon later, Dawnpaw was still weak. Softheart, the medicine cat, couldn't find anything wrong with her, and even though she checked her every day, she couldn't figure out what was going on. Dawnpaw seemed to struggle with daily activities, such as hunting and patrolling, and more often than not went back to camp early to sleep.

Redpaw padded into the camp, carrying the two squirrels that she had caught all by herself. Putting the fresh-kill on the pile, she turned and walked over to where Dawnpaw was sharing tongues with Specklepaw and Spottedpaw.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Not the amount of prey I'm catching," said Dawnpaw sadly.

"You're getting better at it," said Specklepaw, "You just have to focus."

"But I am focusing!" wailed Dawnpaw, "I'm doing everything the way they tell me too, and I still can't catch anything!"

"We all lose prey sometimes," said Redpaw, "This morning I managed to miss two crows and a rabbit!"

"And besides," added Spottedpaw, "You're trying, so you're bound to get better at it."

From beneath the Highledge, Shinepaw called out "Hey, Owlpaw and I are going hunting! Do you wanna come?"

"How about we go practice right now, Dawnpaw?" asked Redpaw.

"Fine," Dawnpaw replied, getting to her feet, "But only for a little while."

As they walked out of camp, Redpaw noticed Dawnpaw was looking more drowsy than usual.

"I feel so tired," she mumbled, and suddenly fell to the ground.

"Dawnpaw!" shrieked Redpaw, "Are you okay?"

"I-I think so," said Dawnpaw. She tried to get to her feet, but couldn't.

"I'll go get Softheart," said Redpaw, "She'll know what to do"

It had now been two moons since they had left the nursery, and Dawnpaw was only getting worse. Softheart had tried just about everything, but no herbs seemed to help. She had stayed in the medicine den since she collapsed, too weak to walk.

Redpaw entered the den quietly, so as not to disturb anyone. Dawnpaw was in her nest, looking smaller and more fragile than ever. Her breathing was shallow and uneven, and even Redpaw could tall it wouldn't be much longer.

"R-redpaw?" mewed Dawnpaw weakly, "I-is that you?"

"Yes," said Redpaw, "I'm here."

"And so are we."

There was a soft rustling at the entrance of the den as Shinepaw, Owlpaw, Specklepaw, and Spottedpaw entered.

"Sorry we haven't been visiting lately," said Shinepaw, "We all kept meaning to, but we got distracted by our training."

"I-it's okay," said Dawnpaw, "I just wish I could have kept training with you… Now I'll never get my warrior name…"

"Maybe you will."

At the sound of the voice, Redpaw turned around and was shocked to see Melodystar, the clan's leader padding in.

"Softheart told me there was an apprentice who might not make it through the night," she explained, "And I've been watching how brave you've been. I think you deserve a warrior name."

As Dawnpaw's eyes filled with hope, Melodystar began the ceremony. "I ask my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice," she began, "She has learned the warrior code and given up her life in the service of her clan. Let StarClan receive her as a warrior. She will be known as Dawnlight."

"Dawnlight…" said Dawnlight, "I've always wanted a name like Dawnlight… It's so beautiful…"

She closed her eyes one last time, let out her last breath, and was gone.

Redpaw snuggled close to her sister's side, weeping bitterly.


End file.
